The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
It is known that a playing field is an outdoor playing surface area for a variety of different sports and activities. One example of a playing field is a football field in an outdoor stadium. Although a preferred size for a football field is about 115 yards×74 yards with an area of 7,140 square meters it suffices to say that a playing field can be a very large surface area. Typically a football field is the playing surface for the game of football, which is made of grass or artificial turf. Typically, grass is the normal surface of play, although artificial turf may sometimes be used especially in locations where maintenance of grass may be difficult due to inclement weather. Artificial turf systems are commonly used for sports playing fields and more particularly to artificial playing fields. Artificial turf systems can also be used for synthetic lawns and golf courses, rugby fields, playgrounds, and other similar types of fields or floor coverings. Artificial turf systems typically comprise a turf assembly and a foundation, which can be made of such materials as asphalt, graded earth, compacted gravel or crushed rock. Optionally, an underlying resilient base or underlayment layer may be disposed between the turf assembly and the foundation. The turf assembly is typically made of strands of plastic artificial grass blades attached to a turf backing. An infill material, which typically is a mixture of sand and ground rubber particles, may be applied among the vertically oriented artificial grass blades, typically covering the lower half or ⅔ of the blades. Artificial turf is used in areas where it is very wet, causing the grass to deteriorate rapidly. Where the turf is very dry, the grass can die; and where the turf is under heavy use, the grass can lose traction. A common problem for a playing field is it has a great capacity to retain heat causing an inclement environment above the field. Additionally, water, ice and snow can accumulate on the field causing dangerous and undesirable playing conditions.
Hydronic in-floor radiant heating systems are known in the art. Radiant heating is more efficient that other forms of heating, such as forced air, while being more cost effective. Initial systems generally used tubing within a floor structure to carry and transmit heat through the floor. Generally, the tubing is embedded within a poured concrete slab underneath the finished floor. Warm water circulates within the tubing and the stored heat is transmitted to the concrete through conduction. The warmed concrete radiates the heat to the objects within the room thereby warming objects without heating the air. In floor radiant heating systems using a cementitious heat transfer medium, requires a plastic tray and support structure, and is susceptible to chipping or fracturing of requires a plastic tray and support structure, and is susceptible to chipping or fracturing of the material. Clearly a floor radiant system using cement cementitious transfer medium cannot be used as an intermediate panel between a foundation and an artificial surface because of its rigidity and lack of G-Force flexibility.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies. Even though the above cited methods for a system for regulating temperature on a field meets some of the needs of the market, a system for regulating temperature on a field with cooling and heating panels positioned adjacently beneath the field, while absorbing impact force from the field is still desired.